Vocational Education via Internet is the Next Big Thing!
As Eric Parks says, 'I'm certain cybertechnology will replace all the other learning technologies that exist today.' (Caudron 1996, p. 35)
The Internet is a network of networks including the World Wide Web (WWW), listservs, newsgroups, and discussion forums along with electronic mail and electronic journals. To help vocational educators make the best use of the web, this essay makes suggestions for using the Internet in the vocational classroom and provide a list of websites of interest to vocational educators. It does not pretend to be an exhaustive list of vocational education resources on the Internet--that list changes daily. As in the earlier digest,much of the information that is included was received as a result of messages sent to several listservs asking how the Internet was being used in vocational education and corporate training. Previously, respondents indicated that they were just getting started and students were spending time surfing the Web, making use of electronic mail, and participating in listservs. The times they are a changin'! Now, in addition to all of the above, students are developing and maintaining websites, using digital cameras to evaluate teachers, delivering training to industry, and using materials found through Web searches.
A survey by Market Data Retrieval determined that approximately one-third of all public schools are online; that the larger the school, the more likely it is to use the Internet; and that the Internet is used mostly for research. If the integration of the Internet into the classroom is to be successful, teachers must be involved and work with it (Leiken 1996). The examples here show how vocational teachers and trainers are using the Internet.
Examples of Current Use
It has been suggested that increased use of performance support systems, sophisticated computer simulations and multimedia training programs are changing and diminishing the role of the traditional corporate classroom (Wulf 1996). Companies are discovering that they can use the Internet to distribute information, resources, and learning tools to employees worldwide with relatively little end-user support (Caudron 1996).
A high school teacher in Minnesota has developed a website for use in doing career research. Students look for career opportunities on the Web and check the classified ads in the local newspaper, which is also on the Web (M. Savchenko, Internet message, July 3, 1997).
In Australia, the Certificate in Workplace Leadership is offered through the Web.
Thesis: Although most hockey athletes believe that by wearing required equipment keeps them safe from injury, however I believe that these regulations should be stricter because of the severity of recent and past injuries.
Career Cruising is an informational website and available at participating schools, public libraries, and employment agencies across North America. This program is intended to direct individuals towards appropriate career choices based on specific criteria, such as education, training and previous experience. Individuals can find this information database self-directed, user friendly and rewarding while presenting a variety of options to meet their personal needs. Not only does it offer assistance for the perspective individual in career development, but also on SAT/ACT preparation, online study guides, interview strategies and seminars by promoting growth and effective career opportunities.
In line seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen Hughes says, “Don’t you fall now– For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’.” What Hughes expresses in these lines is that just because the stairs become hard to climb at times do not quit. One of Hughes’ most important elements is symbols in his poem “Mother to Son.” She still struggles forward, no matter what may have been the bleakest moments of her life, where there seemed to be no hope. When climbing the stairs she is “reachin’ landin’s, / and turnin’ corners, / and sometimes goin’ in the dark”. Even though these are “home like” things someone may face on a staircase, they are actually metaphors that mean things that she has encountered in her life. She says that she reaches landings, which can mean that she has come up on places where she could rest. When she says she turns corners, it is when her life changes and she has to turn away from her original path that it was on. When she says “sometimes goin’ in the dark where there ain’t been no light.” This contrasting color imagery of dark and light shows the idea that it is always dark before the dawn and bad days come before better ones and just when it might seem as if there is no relief in sight, something occurs to get rid of all of your burdens. The mother then advises her son not to give up and let life get him down just because there are a few struggles in
David Gelernter author of the essay, “Unplugged: The Myth of Computers in the Classroom,” used some rhetorical appeals but not many in his essay, whilst trying to logically persuade his audience that computers could be utilized in the classroom, but under certain stipulations. Gelernter has great credibility for speaking on education and technology, as he is a professor of computer science at Yale University, so he more than anyone should know the outcomes of using a computer as a tool while teaching. However, when it comes to technology a lot of older generations usually are pretty biased when discussing technologies advancements, Gelernter still had some very good points! Using computers while teaching our young children can be useful but with strict moderations; when, where, and why, because if not heavily monitored, computers could be extremely detrimental to the learning experience and processes for many students.
Technology enables students and teachers to have a fast and easy way to acquire unlimited access to tons of information. With all of the useful technologies, the curriculum is bound to change in endless ways, creating more opportunity for learning.
Langston Hughes’s “Mother to Son” was first published in Crisis magazine in 1922. In the poem, a hopeful mother warns her child that many trails will present themselves to him over the course of his life. The mother encourages her son that no matter what, he must triumph over the struggles and continue to press forward. She relates life’s rigorous journey to climbing a staircase. The mother explains how her life has not been easy, or in other words, “a staircase made of crystal” The life of the mother has been an endless struggle described as stairs with protuberant nails and fragments of wood sticking out, boards ripped up and spaces where carpet was omitted. Though she described her life as an almost unclimbable staircase, she kept moving onward. She wants her son to do as she has done and pull motivation from her severe situations and remain steady.
Not only can adults learn content through technology, they can also learn about technology itself (Merriam ad Brockett 1997) and develop the skills to use it competently. An example of the technology as curriculum approach is the course, "Exploring the Internet." Offered by the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, the 10-hour, noncredit evening course is designed to provide adults with the concepts and skills for using Internet applications such as e-mail and the Web (Cahoon 1998). The benefits of this approach include the opportunity to address each aspect of the technology in a clear, structured manner; little or no distraction from peripheral learning issues or goals beyond those of learning the technology; and efficiency in acquiring a discrete set of technology skills that can be applied in different settings. The major limitation of the approach is the narrow focus on the technology and the skills to use it. When technology skills are acquired in an isolated environment, they may not be easily transferred and applied by the learner in meaningful ways. In addition, if the learner lacks an opportunity for practice, the skills may deteriorate (Ginsburg 1998).
The computer has been one of man’s most influential inventions, paving the way for greater achievements with time. Today, computers have become an essential component in fulfilling everyday tasks in both our professional and personal lives. Computers are used to store vast amounts of information, and even replace humans in factories throughout the world. We must now ask ourselves, is this reliance on computers aiding the human mind in achieving its full potential or rather replacing it and hindering our progress? Society has now become dependant on computers. How does this machine affect our youth and learning process? We have invented a machine with a greater, and faster learning capacity as our own. A new generation has risen that have used computers for most of their lives so it is not surprising that they have become highly dependent on the computer. As of now, humans only use less than twenty percent of their brains, and with computers doing most of our work, this number is slowly decreasing.
There are a number of key reasons why we must ensure adequate funding of our schools. To start, we must increase the accessibility of the Internet in our schools. With our society growing by the minute the need for technology is rapidly on the run. Today we depend heavily on the Internet to provide us with fast information. It is used in high tech businesses, in homes and in schools. Through the Internet we enable students to explore new and interesting issues. In addition to the books found in our local library, the Internet serves as a fundamental tool for education. With all of the assets that the Internet provides not all schools have it at their disposal. “According to a 1999 survey, conducted by Education Week only 87%, in states like Pennsylvania had Internet access” (Gazette 99). “This number however rose to 90% in 1999.” Although the numbers did rise there are other states that are not even close to that number of access. This poses as a major problem because while other students are building their skills and are learning more, others still rely on books and articles. Through Internet use students will not only be introduced to a wide a ray of topics and search engines but will also be able to familiarize themselves with technology.
With perseverance comes the reward of having overcome the obstacles in one’s life. This aspect of the poem is displayed when the symbol of the stairs is presented. Towards the beginning of the poem, the mother states, “Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.”(2). Crystal stairs, in this poem, symbolizes a smooth, easy going life. The mother’s life reflects just the opposite. The tacks, splinters, torn up boards, and bare floors mentioned prior have taken their toll in creating a more difficult life for the mother. Hughes uses the wea...
She uses the "crystal stair," to describe a life that is opposite to hers. Crystal is thought of as something delicate, precious, and valuable; every step of life on a crystal stair would be full of priceless opportunities. The mother in this poem has had no such life; in fact, the description of hers seems harsh and unpleasant.
This article describes technological advances and predicts what the future classroom and class will be like.
The use of computers in school classrooms has evolved throughout the years, and has become revolutionary in changing the way we teach and learn. Our classrooms should no longer be confined to four walls and a few teachers who are considered to be experts in knowledge. Our classrooms need to keep up with a changing society and a new world that is dependent on technology. As students graduate, they need the technological skills needed to thrive in a world in which technology sets the pace. Society expects the school system to produce functional citizens who have the skills to gain profitable employment, and not be a drain on the system.
The Impact of the Internet on Education A dusty, one-bedroom schoolhouse on the edge of a village. An overworked teacher trying to manage a room full of boisterous children. Students sharing schoolbooks that are in perpetual short supply, crammed in rows of battered desks. Children worn out after long treks to school, stomachs rumbling with hunger.
Now for computers in the schools, I feel we will soon have no books and all work will be done on computers. Even homework will be done on the internet and e-mailed to the teacher. Children will be taught about computers at a younger and younger age. This in turn will make the younger generations more and more skilled in electronics and understanding how they work. This will have a very large impact on they way projects and or work is viewed.